To some, finding a good beach read is like getting a complementary terry cloth robe while on vacation; it’s something you can snuggle into and relax.
A beach read might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but certain elements are pretty common for that type of book. You want a story that’s absorbing, engaging, and includes a healthy dose of romance or soap opera drama (preferably both). The plot should move along at a good pace and include some vibrant settings and interesting characters which keep you turning pages at your leisure.
Rocky Marriages
Set at an exclusive Minnesota country club in the wealthy suburb called Aldon Lakes, “The Lake Club” opens with a teaser scene. It features two unnamed people measuring rooms in a vacant model home, which quickly evolves into some serious hanky-panky. They’re married, but not to each other.The main story takes place at The Lake Club, a private country club on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. It’s the sort of place where the rich host their status events, like weddings and golf retreats. There are also regulars who own big estates in the area and frequently stay at the Club the whole season.
One such regular is Danika Crawley. She’s a 32-year-old mom who’s precise, tightly wound, controlling, and largely miserable. A former design student, she’s spent much of her married life constructing an outwardly perfect life. Meanwhile, she also quietly resents everyone around her, including her husband, Bill.
Attempted Reboot
Augie Elling is 22, and she’s recently returned from New York with her proverbial tail between her legs. She left her childhood home of Aldon Lakes to start her first major advertising job, only to lose it under circumstances she refuses to discuss. Back in her old position as a server at the Lake Club, she’s depressed, discouraged, and deeply self-critical.
Luckily, a few friendly faces still work there, including her closest friend, Leah Greene, whose family are legacy Club members. The Greene family has never fully recovered from a tragic boating accident 12 years earlier that took the life of Leah’s older brother, Lyle. Leah has never accepted her brother’s death at face value.
Then, faster than you can say “love triangle,” life at Aldon Lakes begins to get much more interesting when Danika decides to hire a male nanny, a “manny,” for her kids. Danika tells herself that it’s all just a clever plan to be the talk of the club. He’s young, charming, fit, and super hot—not that his looks mean anything to her personally, you understand.
Mr. Manny is Chat Efhart. (Yep, that’s his actual name, not a typo.) He’s a former hockey prospect who’s warm and seemingly guileless, but Chat has his own undisclosed reason for taking the position. Danika thinks he’s perfect, until she realizes that he has a connection with a new, problematic server at the club named Augie.
For her part, Augie is mortified to discover that Chat will be staying there the whole summer. They had a one-night hookup pre-NYC, and the last thing she wants is to get involved in another relationship while she’s trying to rebuild her life. The problem is that just being around him again makes her knees go weak.
Patton has largely succeeded in combining some of the best qualities of a beach read into “The Lake Club.” Chat’s position in the story is a novel twist on the “tennis pro” trope—a gigolo club employee who begins an affair with the frustrated, neglected, rich wife. Thankfully, he develops more depth than he originally presents.
Danika’s brittle sophisticate character arc has a surprisingly satisfying conclusion. To a lesser extent, so does Augie’s redemption arc. As a debut novel, the writing can be a little clunky. Patton displays an unhealthy obsession with the word “interstitial,” but that can be chalked up to growing pains.
Not much new ground is broken in “The Lake Club.” To do so might actually counter the whole point of a beach read, which is typically designed to be familiar and friendly territory. The prerequisite diversity-equity-inclusion subplot is annoyingly trite when it surfaces, but it ultimately does add a deeper level to the soap opera elements.
Perhaps the best way to read “The Lake Club” is to just dig in and watch the drama unfold.
